What can I expect from the 2012 VegFest?

There are free food samples or you can buy an entire meal. This is our 3rd year organizing this VegFest, so this is the year that we will really impress you. We have a new location that we will announce soon. The festival features 40-50 exhibitors, some food vendors, animal protection & environmental advocacy groups, and awesome businesses. The VegFest has kid-friendly activities, inspiring speakers, vegetarian-themed clothing and merch, cookbook authors, and live cooking demos (with samples!). The free raffle will have gift certificates, signed books, a free tattoo and other rad swag.

Speakers

The 2012 Worcester VegFest brings together top national speakers to give cooking demonstrations, discuss the latest in animal rights campaigns, cover the newest science in clinical nutrition, talk about getting involved in the vegetarian movement, and connect veganism to other social movements.

12-12:45pm – Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan

Our Hen House is a multimedia hive of opportunities to change the world for animals, and features a daily blog, weekly podcast (look for it on iTunes), and video page. Our Hen House was named the â€śIndie Media Powerhouseâ€ť by VegNews Magazine for 2011. Jasmin and Mariann have spoken on activism, veganism, and animal law at conferences and events worldwide. Jasmin is the former campaigns manager for Farm Sanctuary, and a contributor to VegNews Magazine. Mariann teaches animal law at three New York law schools. They live in New York City with their gorgeous pit bull, Rose.

THINK VEGAN: Ten Tips to Get You Started

Join Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan, co-founders of Our Hen House, as they guide you through the exciting journey of making transitions toward a vegan lifestyle. They will cover everything from the social quandaries (like keeping your cool while handling comments from friends and family) â€“ to tips on how to successfully navigate through a not (yet) vegan world (such as how to get a delicious meal at a non-veg restaurant) â€“ to some of the actual nuts and bolts of vegan eating (including ideas about transition foods, thoughts on being a â€śjunk food veganâ€ť versus eating in an optimally-healthy way, and further resources that will aid your process). Bring your pens, your questions, and your sense of humor. Be prepared to be enlightened and entertained by the hens of Our Hen House.

1pm-1:45pm – T. Colin Campell, Ph.D.

T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. is a giant in the field of nutrition research, with a brilliant career spanning over 40 years. His legacy, the China Study, is the most comprehensive study ever conducted of the connection between diet and disease. The China Study was the focus of the recent film, Forks Over Knives. Dr. Campbell is the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University, and Project Director of the renowned China-Oxford-Cornell Diet and Health Project, the largest population study in world history of the effects of diet on health. The study was the culmination of a 20-year partnership of Cornell University, Oxford University, and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine. The results were clear: People who ate the most animal-based foods got the most chronic disease, and the closer you get to eating an all-plant diet, the greater the health benefits.

Dr. Campbell was trained at Cornell (M.S., Ph.D.) and MIT (Research Associate) in nutrition, biochemistry and toxicology. His principal scientific interest has been the effects of nutrition on long term health, particularly on the cause of cancer. He has authored more than 300 research papers.

Dr. Campbell has been a member of the National Academy of Science’s expert panels on issues of carcinogenicity, food safety policy, and research recommendations on diet, nutrition and cancer. He was the Senior Science Advisor for the American Institute for Cancer Research/World Cancer Research Fund.

His book, The China Study; Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health (2005), is an engrossing, illuminating, and lively read which details the connection between nutrition and heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and the effects of aging, and how nutrition can reduce or reverse their risk or effects. The China Study also examines the source of conflicting nutritional messages produced by powerful lobbies, government entities, and irresponsible scientists. It has been translated into 10 languages.

Dr. Campbell will do a book signing following his presentation, from 1:45-2:15pm

3:30-4:15pm – Nathan Runkle

Founder & Executive Director of Mercy For Animals

Nathan Runkle is the Founder and Executive Director ofÂ Mercy For Animals. Raised on a farm in rural Ohio, Nathan has long had a deep connection with farmed animals and agriculture. After a local farmed animal abuse case, involving a piglet slammed head first into a concrete floor during an agriculture project at a nearby high school, Nathan founded Mercy For Animals to give â€śfoodâ€ť animals a much needed advocate in his local community.

Since founding Mercy For Animals a decade ago, Nathan has overseen the organizationâ€™s growth into a leading national force for the respectful and compassionate treatment of farmed animals. A grassroots organizer and coordinator for many years, Nathan has spearheaded hundreds of demonstrations and outreach events across the country â€“ ranging from protests outside pork and egg producer conventions to parade marches, educational exhibits, and more.

A nationally recognized speaker on animal advocacy, grassroots activism, and factory farming, Nathan has spoken at colleges, forums, and conferences from coast-to-coast.

Through his work with MFA, Nathan has been an outspoken advocate for animal rights, appearing in hundreds of newspaper, television, and radio interviews, including National Public Radio,Â The Los Angeles Times, andÂ The Chicago Tribune.

During the formative years of MFA, Nathan conducted numerous investigations and rescue operations at factory farms, livestock auctions, and rodeo events. Nathan led teams of MFA investigators into Ohioâ€™s four largest egg factory farms, exposing egregious animal cruelty and neglect, as well as directly rescuing dozens of animals in dire need of veterinary care. Nathan spearheaded the organizationâ€™s efforts to rescue, rehabilitate, and find homes for over 500 hens rescued from a battery-cage facility dilapidated by a tornado.

Directions

We have a new location this year. The 2012 Worcester VegFest is at Worcester Technical High School, located at 1 Skyline Drive, Worcester, MA (map).

Printable Posters

We need loads of help promoting the VegFest. Please download and print these posters and put them up everywhere. Hang them up in your work’s break room, hang them up at your gym, put them up on bulletin boards, ask businesses if you can hang the poster in their window, anywhere.